Cranking up the sharpness on your TV introduces those artifacts. They aren't inherent on the disc. Do you really not understand that?

I guess I do not understand that sharpness creates compression artifacts.

Pixellation as you described can be caused by more than just poor compression. If your TV adjustment controls can get rid of it, that really does suggest that it is not encoded on the disc.

How do you know they are compression artifacts? From what you have said, your TV sounds like it isn't calibrated at all.

Do you have DVE or Avia? If not, it's time to invest $20 in one of them and calibrate your set. As you get into higher resolution sources, miscalibration is going to make your PQ suffer more and more.

General rule of thumb: if you are the only one seeing these particular artifacts, it is most likely that it is a problem on your end.

It doesn't get rid of it, just makes it less pronounced.

Are you saying that HD DVD discs don't have compression artifacts? I'm telling you flat out, they are there. If I'm seeing them and you're not, maybe it's because my TV is better than yours. I assure you, it is in tip-top condition.

I think you all are just going to have to agree to disagree.

What I'm telling you is this: if only you are seeing it, the chance that they are compression artifacts is just about nil.

The other poster who saw similiar artifacts said he saw them only when he cranked up his contrast. Not during normal viewing.

You have calibrated your TV? Using what?

Your TV may be in "tip-top condition" (whatever that means), but if you are using anything close to factory settings, there is a good chance the picture could look a hell of a lot better. I'm not trying to be antagonistic, just trying to explain that calibrating the set (and not with one of those worthless THX Optimizers) can do a lot of good.

Frankly I don't see what any of this has to do with my TV. This isn't a pissing contest. You posted for advice, I gave you mine.

I used Video Essentials once, but since I have access to the service modes it's kind of pointless. No I haven't paid some guy to come out and do what I can do for myself for free. My image is sharp like a knife. My colors, black levels, gradations, geometry and everything else are perfect.

I just have this one point about the banding which has never happened on either my DVD player, VCR or over the air broadcasts. That kind of rules out the calibration right there.

Admittedly I tied the compression artifacts in with the banding, but that is a weak theory at best, bolstered by the fact that someone else saw them as well.

What I'm talking about right now this moment is that HD DVDs have artifacts, apart from banding. They are real, they are there. If you don't believe me, crank up the sharpness and pause the picture. Now look closely and you will see them. I'm not talking about grain, I'm talking about compression artifacts. These come from the fact that HD DVDs, just like Blu-ray movies are in fact compressed. Artifacts are an unavoidable side effect of this process. I have never seen compression artifacts on VHS tapes or over the air broadcast for one very simple reason, they do not exist.

As for the banding issue, I don't know what's causing it. Since no reviews have mentioned it, I can only assume that either there is something wrong with my player or my TV's DVI input or maybe the HDMI-to-DVI cable. I don't feel like paying $150 for a monster cable only to see the banding remain so I guess I'm just going to live with it.

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Please stop with this nonsense.

Ummmmm.......compression leads to artifacts. This is a fact of life you're just going to have to get used to. Once again, if you don't believe me, crank up the sharpness and pause the picture.

For the record I watched The Last Samurai last night and only saw slight banding in 2 shots. One was in the sky as they approached the village after Cruise was captured, and not again until a pan across the sky onto Cruise and Watanabi just before the battle.

This suggestion is exactly what Josh is saying is so ridiculous, though.

Well, that and your saying that you don't need a reference to calibrate your TV because you have access to the service menu. I have access to a kitchen, but that doesn't make me a master chef either.

The serive menu has a convergence grid, so why would I need another grid? The THX quality control has just about everything on those calibration discs, so why would I need anything else? And besides all of that, none of those calibration discs keeps compression artifacts from appearing out of thin air or cause banding so I fail to see the point of it even being brought up.

Are you then saying that HD DVD does not have any compression artifacts whatsoever? I don't know why you are all so reluctant to admit this very obvious fact. if you can't see them then your TV is the one that isn't in tune.

Turning up the sharpness is not going to create something that isn't there. Yes it highlights grain but as I've stated a couple of times, I'm not talking about grain. Am I speaking Chinese or something?

Mod note -- merging two successive posts into one.

Yes, it does.

Are you talking about edge halos? Sharpness does not create compression artifacts. I, perhaps foolsihly, assumed everyone on here knew what a compression artifact was.

It's pretty clear that this thread isn't going to go anywhere and that it's just going to be an endless parade of bickering. The "HD DVD vs. Blu-ray" free-for-all is the only all-bickering thread I really want to keep around, so I'd prefer to just cut off this "discussion" here.